Christmas Cookie Week - Eggnog Cheesecake Squares with Cranberry Relish

*Enter my giveaway for the brass knot earrings that ends tomorrow :-)

It is Thursday and day 4 of my Christmas cookie week and today it is some yummy eggnog and cheesecake goodness! I am linking up this recipe to the Improve Cooking Challenge and this month's two required recipes are eggnog and cranberry. I thought this recipe would be perfect for that :-)

Anything that has eggnog in it sings to my heart. And I mean real eggnog, not some nutmeg and rum through in a recipe to make it be considered eggnog, no, give me the real, calorie-laden stuff! I decided to try this recipe out this year and think the results are outstanding. I know this are the traditional drop or cut out cookies, but I do consider bar cookies still cookies. 

First, gather together your ingredients. For the crust base, you need 1 1/2 cups finely smashed ginger snaps (this is a 10-ounce bag minus ten snaps), 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 a stick of butter, melted. 

For the eggnog cheesecake filling, you need 1 pound cream cheese, room temperature, 2 large eggs, 1 large egg yolk, 3/4 cup eggnog, 1 heaping tablespoon flour, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 3/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake these squares in a 9X9 baking pan and grease the tin.To make the crust, in a small bowl combine the crushed ginger snaps, the butter and 3 tablespoons of sugar.

 Press the mixture into the bottom of your baking tin. Bake the crust for 12 minutes. 


Make the cheesecake filling while the crust bakes. In a mixing bowl, cream the cheese cream then add the remaining 3/4 cup of white sugar and beat these two ingredients until they are light and fluffy.

 Beat the eggs into the mixture one at a time. 

Then add the remaining yolk, eggnog, flour, vanilla, and nutmeg. Give these ingredients a good beating with your machine to make sure they are fully incorporated. Scrape any ingredients from the side of the bowl if need be and make sure this mixture is smooth. 

Pour this cheesecake mixture into your baked crust. Set the baking tin into another larger baking dish. Add boiling water into the larger dish just until it comes up to the halfway point of the dish that has the cheesecake bars in it.

Put your bars into the oven for 45 minutes or until the filling is set. When you take it out of the oven, remove your smaller baking dish with the cheesecake squares and it is on a rack to cool. Let the squares cool to room temperature and then refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. 

Cut the squares into 16 pieces, then serve, spoon some cranberry relish on top eat and enjoy!

And come back tomorrow for day 4 of my Christmas cookie week!
How to package these cookies if you are giving them away as a gift or going to a cookie exchange.

Source: penniesonaplatter.com via Meg on Pinterest